(TW for this chapter: mentions of abuse) 

Max curled herself up into a tight ball once she got into his bed, bringing her knees up and hugging them as she rested her head on them and closed her eyes. "Hey are you okay?" Mike asked her worriedly as he lightly shook her. She nodded, "Yeah, I'm just thinking, that's all." "If you need to talk I'm here," he replied back as he got into the bed also and made himself comfortable. After a minute she uncurled herself and asked as she flipped over to face him only to find she was looking at his back and head of wavy black hair.

"Why do some people get shitty lives and others don't?" She asked, curious to what Mike's answer would be. Mike turned around to face her when she asked it and gave her a serious but comforting look before shrugging. "I really don't know. But it's bullshit. You don't deserve this Max. I'm sorry you have to deal with Neil," he said back sadly. Max nodded then said thoughtfully, "maybe life decides to throw more shit at the people it thinks are strong because it thinks they can handle it." "Yeah well if that's the case life has terrible judgement," Mike said back with a scoff. Max nodded as she laughed a little.

She opened her mouth to speak again but instead was met with his lips kissing hers. He kissed her quickly and once he pulled away he said, "Max just go to sleep. Don't think too much. Just try to relax right now." Max nodded slowly as she looked into his eyes, trying to see if she could scout out any pain in his dark brown orbs. She had been vulnerable with him so she wondered if he would end up being vulnerable with her, if he even had anything to be vulnerable to be about.

After a moment she recognized some pain in his eyes, some loneliness that she had once in her eyes too. And maybe still did, since her pain and loneliness wasn't quite cured because she didn't want to fully rely on him quite yet. She was afraid that would be a mistake again if she did that. "Mike," she started softly. He groaned slightly but met her gaze and asked back, "Yes Max?" "Are you hurting? Dealing with anything?" She asked, genuinely concerned and curious. Mike shrugged, "just sick of being ignored and sick of damn feelings."

Max nodded slowly then asked before she could stop herself, "are you upset that you fell in love with me?" Mike gave her a surprised look and sighed. "I don't know... no. I mean look at us, we're working out. It's just annoying because I hadn't meant to fall in love with you and especially not while I was still with El. And loving someone who is broken is painful. Don't get me wrong, I love loving you. It's just loving you hurts me sometimes because so damn often I have to worry about losing you," he said, accidentally going into a little rant. Max smiled at his last sentence and she nodded as she moved closer to him. "I understand, and I thank you for loving me still, despite that," she said back appreciatively. "Of course," he said back as he drapped an arm around her waist and closed his eyes. "Goodnight Mike," she said to him before as she admired his handsome sleepy face. "Goodnight Max," he said back tiredly just before he dozed off.

***

Mike woke up and flashbacks of what happened the night before hit him like a bullet when he looked over and spotted the red headed girl who was so much smaller than him. He was about to wake her when he decided not to. She looked so at peace and he knew sleeping was probably one of the few times when she was fully at peace and he didn't want to ruin that.

But a few minutes later she woke up on her own anyways. He looked over at her as she stretched and rubbed her eyes while yawning. He couldn't help but to smile, she was adorable. And again for the second time in his life he found himself admiring how pretty she looked with the sunlight shining on her. When Max finally noticed him staring at her she spoke up in a teasing manner, "staring is rude."

He rolled his eyes playfully and scoffed. She was about to say something else when he moved to hover over her. "I don't want to hear another word from you," He purred before kissing her. She laughed a little and kissed back until her memories of last night came back to her and she pulled away a little more harshly than intended.

Mike gave her a confused and worried look as she sat against the headboard of his bed, moving her arms up to hug herself. She knew they talked about how they would both be honest with Lucas and El about them but she knew she wouldn't be able to do it. She was always looking for other's acceptance and she knew that this would probably make at least most of the party hate her. She knew she had told Mike she would tell Lucas but she knew that would be easier said than done.

She was upset too still, about Neil and how he had tried to hurt Mike. She was used to him hurting her but she was really upset that he had tried to hurt Mike too. It wasn't really too much of a surprise but that didn't mean it didn't upset her. She looked down at her arms to see the scars she gave herself and frowned. Even though Mike had done his best to clean them up they still stung like hell.

Mike watched her for a moment before moving closer to her, gently grabbing her hands and intertwining them with his. "Hey... it's okay," he said comfortingly, knowing she was feeling upset. "No it's not. I can't go back home now because I know what he'll do and the whole party is gonna hate me if they find out about us and...and-" she started before tears started falling and it became hard for her to speak.

Mike sighed before leaning forward and hugging her tightly. She hugged him back and buried her face into the crook of his neck, needing the comfort. He started rubbing her back and after a few minutes she was able to calm down mostly. 

"You can stay here with me, you don't have to go back home. And if the party starts hating you then screw them," he told her seriously as he pulled away and grabbed her shoulders. He felt there would be no reason for them to start hating Max and if they did they should hate him too. Not only her. This was both of their faults. 

Max nodded a little bit before saying quietly, "I do have to go back home. So my mom doesn't worry and so Neil doesn't come looking for me. If he finds out I'm staying with you he'll murder you." She didn't want Neil to hurt Mike and she was scared that was going to happen. "I'll tell him that I'll let you go back home if he learns to treat you like a normal human being with feelings," Mike said back and she could hear the anger in his voice, the anger he had towards Neil. 

"That won't be a good idea. He won't listen to you Mike. He doesn't listen to anyone and in the end I'll be the one getting the punishment if you try to stand up to him and stuff," she argued as she felt herself starting to cry again. Just the thought of Neil abusing her was enough to bring her back to tears. Mike frowned and let out a defeated sigh as he hugged her again. "I'm sorry Neil treats you so badly," he said softly. 

"You don't know the half of it," she said back in a mumble. Mike heard her and pulled away, giving her a concerned look. "What?" He asked. Max looked down as she lifted her hands up and pulled her hair back as if she were putting it in a ponytail. When she did he noticed some light ligature marks and he knew it meant Neil had tried to strangle her recently. He went to hug her again but she said, "that's not all." He shook his head as he frowned, "I don't wanna see what else he's done to you Max." Max studied him for a moment and saw how much it hurt him just to see her neck bruises so she nodded and wrapped her arms around him, her way of telling him he could hug her. 

He held her tightly, feeling so much worse about her home life and so much angrier at Neil. He hadn't realized his abuse was so severe and knowing that it was made him want to keep Max there with him even more. He didn't want her to go home because he knew she would get abused and she didn't deserve that at all. He couldn't understand why her mother was even still with Neil since he was so abusive. But he reminded himself that it was usually discreet and he never did it when her mom was home. 

After a moment he asked a question he couldn't keep in anymore since he was genuinely curious, "Did Lucas ever know?" He knew Max must have been at least a little bit open with Lucas on her life but he didn't know whether he she ever told him about Neil's abuse. For a moment he thought she wasn't going to reply until she did, quietly, "no." 

"Why not?" He asked before he could stop himself. He knew he probably shouldn't be asking so many questions about the two topics since they were both sensitive to her but he couldn't help himself, his curiosity was getting the best of him. As usual. He pulled away from her as he looked at her, giving her an apologetic expression that let her know she didn't have to answer if she didn't want to. 

But she did answer, "I never became comfortable enough to tell him." Sure Lucas had been pretty much the only person she was close with for a period of time but it took her a lot to open up to someone and she unfortunately hadn't gotten to that point with Lucas. She knew he cared but for some reason she never felt comfortable enough to actually tell him what she dealt with at home. Hell, she hadn't even wanted to tell Mike but for some reason it had been so much easier to let it all out on him. She still wasn't sure of the reason for that. 

Mike nodded at her response, not at all surprised by it. He knew she had a lot of trouble opening up to people and talking about her problems, which did always make him wonder how they had gotten so close and how much she had opened up to him but he reminded himself not to question or think too much about it. "I'm not going to let you go home," he said sternly after a moment. 

"Mike-" she started but he cut her off before she could try to argue, "Max listen. I know you said it would be bad if you stay here and that'll you'll only get more in trouble but I don't want you to go home. I don't care if your mom is worried, and in fact I don't really believe she is because she obviously doesn't care enough to ever ask you how you are or question the your bruises from Neil or anything! The only thing that'll happen if you go home is Neil hurting you again and I don't want that to happen, I won't let that happen." 

Max stared at Mike in awe once he has stopped talking. It wasn't because she didn't believe what he said, she was just surprised that he cared that much. She knew he loved her but to her it seemed like he loved her truly and completely, already. Even if it's only been a little while since they've gotten close. When Max didn't say anything he felt he had said something wrong and became worried, "Max? Did I say something wrong...?" 

Max shook her head at him when he spoke, giving him a small reassuring smile. "No, it's just..." she started but stopped when she realized she wasn't sure what she wanted to say. Mike gave her a curious look that was urging her to go on as she struggled for a moment of trying to think of the right words. "Thank you," she finally got out after she sighed a little. He was about to tell her that there was no need to thank him but she kissed him before he could reply. He kissed her back but it was a short lived kiss as she pulled away after a few mere seconds. 

She was about to say something when they both heard someone knock on the front door quite harshly and urgently. They exchanged glances, both having the same worry of who it was at the door. Mike silently prayed that his mom wouldn't open it but he knew she had when she heard a mean voice ask loudly, "where's Maxine?" 

***

Hi! I'm finally getting another chapter out to y'all! I'm so sorry for the wait, things in my life have just been hectic and sad lately unfortunately. But yeah I hope this chapter is good enough to make up for the long wait. My writing has become ✨shitty✨ though so I'm sorry if this chapter sucks. Also sorry for the cliffhanger haha :)